Video 4:55
Melbourne marches for Jill Meagher

Some 30,000 people walked the Melbourne street where Jill Meagher was abducted, to mark her passing, and her work colleague, broadcaster Jon Faine joins us from Melbourne to reflect on events.

Transcript

LEIGH SALES, PRESENTER: Once in a while, a tragedy shocks an entire society because it could have happened to any one of us.

The death of Melbourne woman Jill Meagher has been one such event.

Over the weekend, around 30,000 people took to the streets of Melbourne to mark her passing in quiet sorrow.

ABC broadcaster Jon Faine worked with Jill Meagher and his job gives him a unique insight into how the community is reacting.

He joins me now from Melbourne.

Jon, I know you'd give anything to not have this particular cause to appear on the program, but thank you nonetheless.

JON FAINE, 774 ABC MELBOURNE RADIO PRESENTER: It gives us no joy to cover this story in any way, Leigh, but it's gotta be done.

LEIGH SALES: What prompted so many Melburnians on the weekend to not just feel shattered about Jill Meagher's passing, but to actually get off their couches and go and take to the streets?

JON FAINE: It was quite a spontaneous demonstration of grief. It wasn't orchestrated, it wasn't arranged, there was no newspaper campaign, there was no politician involved, there were no speeches and social media played a crucial role. So, half a dozen people sent a message to everyone in their inbox and they sent it to everyone on their Facebook page and they sent it to everyone on their Twitter feed, and before you know it, with no-one orchestrating it, no-one saying, "Look, this is a good thing to do," 30,000 people turn up. And for everyone that turned up, clearly there were more people who felt as if they wished they'd been there as well. It's really been quite heartening for a city that's in shock over what happened to Jill.

LEIGH SALES: Why do you think those 30,000 people showed up?

JON FAINE: I think they're angry. I think they're really angry at what's happened and they feel vulnerable as well. The number of people, whether it's through talkback letters to the paper or the flood of flowers that have spontaneously appeared where she was last filmed by closed circuit security cameras, people want to make their feelings known that this is not how we want Melbourne to be regarded or defined, it's not now we feel about our own city and we don't want this to be in any way what people think is normal or right.

LEIGH SALES: You mention that people feel vulnerable and that we don't want to define our society by an event like this, but for women, when we talk to walk to a car alone night or we get off the bus and we have to walk a few blocks in the dark, what happened to Jill Meagher is our worst fear. How do you see a case like this and not be terribly fearful?

JON FAINE: And that very ordinariness of what happened - I mean, a bunch of people after work going out for drinks together, and someone says, "Oh, look, I just live round the corner, I'll walk home." It's an incredibly busy stretch, it's incredibly popular, there's taxis, cars, trams, pedestrians, people everywhere - how can this happen? And everybody, the reaction has been, whether it's fathers, partners, boyfriends, brothers, people saying, "I feel some responsibility for this as well," as well as women saying, "Well that could've been me." And yet at the same time, it's the incredible rareness of it - it is extremely rare and people are saying, "Well, that doesn't make me feel any better." And we need to talk and we need to work out how we make sure that we don't - in some way we don't succumb to the fear that otherwise gets a grip on you.

LEIGH SALES: Jon, you mentioned social media earlier and the enormous role that it has played in this case, positively in the investigation and now negatively with some of the prejudicial comments being posted about the accused. You were a lawyer in a former life. Is there a legitimate risk to the trial with what's going on on social media?

JON FAINE: Well, the Premier this morning on the radio, on the program I host conceded that there's an issue here and it's one that the judiciary have raised and it's being actively discussed behind the scenes, but now because of this case, it's out in the open. And I think you'll find it will be flick-passed off to the Law Reform Commission for some serious research. This is at the very cutting edge. I mean, social media's a two-edged sword. It was terrific in getting the community to rally and may even have played a role in solving the police investigation. We don't yet know; it's too early to say that. But it also has led to a digital lynch mob and that's completely out of control and that has to stop. So I'd hate to think that some defence lawyer in future would turn around and say, "Look, my client can't get a fair trial because of what's happening in cyberspace." And if we believe in the jury system then we have to somehow protect it.

And what's happening in Western Australia, Leigh, where there's a judge hearing a murder trial without a jury because it was thought that a man wouldn't get a fair trial, all the jurors have been exposed to prejudicial media coverage in a murder case. Well, if you want a jury system, you've gotta prevent that from becoming the norm. And then social media, well it's almost unaccountable in some ways compared to old traditional media like we're working on now. And you have to find a way of strengthening the legal system in the face of this challenge.